Labour to cut tax benefit for parents who choose not to vaccinate

[AnyDream]

Well I guess we'll find out how strongly held those conscientious objections are.

Don't get me wrong, this is a complex issue. But it's also true that its an area where some families may be vulnerable to ambigious information/misinformation in the public sphere. The latest research shows that many (young especially) parents rely on the opinions of the particular community they find themselves in, rather than getting good information. Until this point, "doing nothing" (ie choosing not to vaccinate) has not had any ramifications. Objection-friendly doctors are well known in particular communities. So it has created a situation for parents who have a level of doubt, possibly because they know others who are not vaccinating (or they saw the scary videos on youtube), but they haven't looked at any quality information, and so it's easier just not to vacc at all. $721 x 3 creates an incentive to get some more information and come down strongly on one side or the other.

FWIW, this is the sort of policy that will be dead easy to track statistically. If there's a surge in vaccinations it will show the policy has been successful. But if the increase is small they will know pretty quickly (ie 1-3 years) that they have misjudged the anti-vax sentiment & the policy is disadvantaging some families unnecessarily. Certainly in time for the following federal election.

I appreciate the timing is not great for true conscientious objecting parents who have children now at an age who will be affected. On the other hand, most families are affected at one time or another by the rise and fall of government generosity, often for much more arbitrary reasons than this. At least this is tied to trying to get a positive (ie measurable) public health outcome out of it.